Did you do your homework?
Up here in Wisconsin, this weekend felt like the unofficial last weekend of summer.
For a lot of students, school starts back up again soon.
I was down in Door County—the “Cape Cod of the Midwest”—and the place was absolutely juiced.
People everywhere.
Lines outside restaurants.
Traffic backed up.
Businesses packed.
There was this frantic energy in the air, almost like everyone knew the clock was running out.
Summer is ending.
And the next season is beginning.
School season.
And for a lot of hockey players and hockey parents, that means something else too:
Hockey season.
Tryouts are coming.
Captain’s practices are starting.
Teams are getting back together.
And that brings me to one very important question…
Did you do your homework?
I remember that terrible feeling from school.
You show up to class knowing you didn’t do the reading.
You didn’t finish the assignment.
You’re sitting there while the teacher starts asking questions thinking:
Please don’t call on me.
Please don’t call on me.
Then you hear your name.
Uh-oh.
Now you’re fumbling through an answer, trying to piece something together and hoping your charm and wit can somehow bail you out.
Hockey can feel the exact same way.
If you didn’t do your homework this summer…
If you didn’t train…
If you didn’t get stronger…
If you didn’t work on your hands…
If you didn’t get yourself into shape…
You can show up to tryouts hoping you don’t get “called on.”
You hope the puck doesn’t find your stick at the wrong moment.
You hope you don’t have to make the big play.
You hope the coach doesn’t notice you’re sucking wind halfway through the drill.
Maybe you can hide in the herd.
Maybe nobody notices.
But here’s the problem:
The players who make it aren’t trying to hide.
They WANT the puck.
They WANT the coach watching.
They WANT the opportunity to make the play.
Why?
Because they did their homework.
They showed up in June.
They showed up in July.
They showed up in August.
They trained when nobody was watching.
They put in the reps.
They worked on their conditioning.
They worked on their shot.
They worked on their hands.
And now?
The report card is coming.
Because coaches know.
They know who showed up in shape.
They know who got stronger.
They know who improved.
They know who spent the summer preparing and who spent the summer hoping they could turn it on when September arrived.
And even more importantly…
YOU know.
You know whether you did the work.
You know whether you’re ready.
You know whether you can step onto that ice with confidence or whether there’s a little voice inside your head saying:
I should have done more.
But wherever you are right now, there’s only one thing you can control:
What you do next.
If you’re behind, start digging in.
Take your training seriously.
Get your reps.
Get yourself ready.
Because the pop quiz is coming.
The test is coming.
And when that puck drops, you’re going to find out whether you did your homework.
And for those of you who HAVE been putting in the work all summer…
Who have been reading these emails…
Hitting the pavement…
Hitting the gym…
Getting on the ice…
Working on your game when nobody was watching…
Now is your time.
Now you get to reap the rewards.
Now you get to walk into tryouts with your chest out and your head high knowing:
I’m ready.
But remember—the work doesn’t stop because summer is ending.
One of the easiest ways to keep getting touches every single day is with the Puckaround.
Before school.
After practice.
In the garage.
In the driveway.
Ten minutes here.
Twenty minutes there.
Thousands of extra touches over the course of a season.
The Puckaround is designed to give you the feel of a real puck on off-ice surfaces so you can keep sharpening your hands away from the rink.
The goal?
Make that puck feel like an extension of your body.
So when you’re flying down the ice this season, you’re not staring down at your stick wondering where the puck is.
Your head is up.
You see the ice.
You see the play developing.
And you make the right play.
School’s back.
Hockey’s back.
Time to show everyone you did your homework.
Grab your Puckaround and keep putting in the reps →
Knuckles up,
Bobby Robins, NHL/AHL Alum, writer for Wraparound